Inspired by the Ferrari design, the catlike Nextel i836 brings unique style and new features to Nextel's business line. Unfortunately, design flaws soured our enthusiasm.

The i836 is a successor to the tiny, coppery i830 and the limited-edition i833. Its curvy style might remind you of a cat's head, a Ferrari sports car, or a human body. It's undeniably elegant and is the second-lightest Nextel ever, at just 4 ounces.

On the outside, a one-line, text-only display shows time, date, signal strength, and caller ID information clearly. Inside, the 130-by-130 color screen is clear and easy to read in sunlight. The keys are much bigger and easier to dial than the i830's.

Under the hood, the i836 is a souped-up i830. We got somewhat better reception and call quality on the i836, with the usual thunderously loud Nextel speakerphone and lightning-fast Push-To-Talk system. Like other new Nextels, the i836 also comes with Enhanced Group Connect, which lets you create call groups on the fly, supports receiving picture messages through MMS or e-mail (though you can't assign them as wallpaper), and has an expanded phone book that supports 600 contacts and 25 groups.

Inclusion of on-board GPS service is an unexpected and pleasant surprise for such a stylish phone: The TeleNav GPS navigation service/application found us quickly and easily in several locations in Queens, NY, and provided us with turn-by-turn directions in a loud clear voice. You can also download (from Nextel) other Java applications and mediocre MIDI ringtones into the phone's 2.2MB of memory.

Unfortunately, the build quality doesn't hold up to the i836's luxury intentions. Our battery door was slightly loose on one side. The design inside the flip doesn't quite work: A painted-on "metal" honeycomb mesh runs over a see-through panel showing brown circuitry, and there's a strange sci-fi-ish font on the keys. Direct Connect and volume buttons on the phone also felt a little wobbly, and the vibration alert wasn't very strong.

Battery life was also poor for a Nextel, at 4 hours 28 minutes of talk time. That's even less than we got on the i830 (4 hours 53 minutes).

We're lukewarm on the i836. It's Nextel's most handsome phone and more powerful than the competing i830, but the design flaws give us pause. This phone is like a sleek Italian sports car that needs some servicing.

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PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed...
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